Loan rangers apply here for AFC Wimbledon role

AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley says he is looking to recruit more names on loan after dropping two points against Northampton Town on Tuesday night.

A 1-1 draw keeps the Dons at the foot of the League Two table, although the bottom three – including Accrington Stanley and Plymouth Argyle – are separated only by goal difference.

The match marked the end of Toby Ajala’s loan from Bristol City with no chance of an extension, and Paul McCallum is set to be returning to West Ham United for good to continue his recovery from an injury.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Seb Brown joined Woking of the Blue Square Premier on Tuesday in an initial one-month deal, making his debut in the 2-0 defeat to Barrow.

Ardley said: “It is possible we’ll have some new names in before the Dagenham game this weekend. We hope so, but it is very difficult to get these things over the line. It is fingers crossed.

“Whether we’ll miss Toby is difficult to tell until we know who we’ve got in.

“But there is no chance of extending his loan. You have 93 days and you cannot extend it beyond that. We can do nothing about it.

“He has been brilliant for us and his commitment has been fantastic. He had little dips in form which young players have when they are getting used to the league.”

Dons’s January recruit Alan Bennett opened the scoring against Northampton in the first half.

But the Cobblers were handed a second-half lifeline when Neil Sullivan was adjudged to have fouled Roy O’Donovan in the penalty area and Adebayo Akinfenwa slotted home the spot kick.

Ardley said: “We deserved to win that. We played with energy and had some good chances.
“The whole performance was excellent from start to finish.

“Whether it was a penalty or not was difficult to tell from where we were on the far side, but either way, it is two points dropped.”

He added: “There is fight in the dressing room. The lads are up for it which is what I wanted to see after the Chesterfield defeat, where we were very poor.”

The Dons go to Dagenham & Redbridge this weekend, before a huge clash against Plymouth at Kingsmeadow on Tuesday night.